Honda Mid-Ohio Talking Points

American Honda has a long history of involvement in central Ohio and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Honda was the first Japanese company to establish auto manufacturing operations in the United States, opening Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio, in 1982. The company has had an Official Vehicle relationship with Mid-Ohio since 1994.

Today, Honda operates multiple manufacturing facilities and a major Research & Development center in Ohio. Combined, they employ more than 10,500 associates and have the capacity to produce more than 650,000 vehicles and 1.18 million engines annually.

The new Acura NSX, currently being developed at Honda R&D Americas in Ohio, will make its public debut on Sunday prior to the start of the Honda Indy 200. The prototype model will be driven by Honda engineer Jason Widmer, and is also scheduled to appear in the "hot lap" segment of the NBC Sports pre-race telecast.

Honda has served as title sponsor of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio since it returned to the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule in 2007. Honda is also a major sponsor of The Mid-Ohio School, providing a fleet of Honda and Acura vehicles for the school's teen safe driving and high-performance driving schools and related programs.

Honda-powered drivers and teams have won 11 of 15 races run at Mid-Ohio since the company entered IndyCar racing in 1994; including six of 10 races run with engine manufacturer competition.

With four victories in the past six years at Mid-Ohio, Honda-powered Scott Dixon is the most successful IndyCar Series driver at this track. Dixon won in 2007, 2009, 2011 and again last year. His Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, won in 2010, giving the team four consecutive victories at Mid-Ohio.

In the Championship Auto Racing Teams era, Honda drivers won five of the nine races from 1994-2002, more than any other manufacturer. Alex Zanardi led a 1-2 finish for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 1996 with Jimmy Vasser second; and Zanardi won again in 1997. Juan Pablo Montoya led a 1-2-3-4 result for Honda in 1999, being followed to the checkers by Paul Tracy, Franchitti and Vasser. Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finished 1-2 for Honda and Team Penske in both 2000 and 2001.

ENGINE MANUFACTURER COMPETITION

Dixon also has won the last three IZOD IndyCar Series events, a streak that began at Pocono Raceway earlier this month, highlighting a 1-2-3 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing, with Charlie Kimball taking second and Franchitti third. Dixon's victory also marked Honda's 200th victory in Indy car competition.

Dixon later won both races held at the Honda Indy Toronto, July 13 and 14. They were Honda's fifth and sixth Indy car race wins of the season.

Honda's first 2013 race victory was recorded at Long Beach by Takuma Sato of A.J. Foyt Racing. Honda drivers finished 1-4 (Sato, Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson and Dario Franchitti) in the event.

Mike Conway won for Dale Coyne Racing in first of two races in Detroit, with teammate Justin Wilson third and Scott Dixon fourth for Honda. One day later, Simon Pagenaud led a Honda 1-5 sweep of the top finishing positions.

Honda's 202 Indy car victories include 103 race wins in seasons with manufacturer competition, as well as 99 victories in the six-year period (2006-2011) when Honda supplied engines to the full IndyCar Series field.

Last weekend at Mid-Ohio, IndyCar Series rookie and Honda-powered Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Tristan Vautier drove a Van Diemen Honda during the F1600 Formula F Championship Series race weekend in order to learn the circuit. Vautier had not previously driven at Mid-Ohio.

HONDA ACCORD SAFETY CAR

The new 2013 Honda Accord Coupe made its debut as an IZOD IndyCar Series Safety Car at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This Accord was originally built by Honda of America Manufacturing in Marysville, Ohio, and developed into a series Safety Car at Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, Calif.